beekman



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.. G. BEEKMAN.

. TRANSMITTER FOR FIBROUS MATERIAL.

INVENTUH ATTOHN EY/ Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

4 Sheets-Sheet. 2.

(No Model.)

G. BEEKMAN. TRANSMITTER FOR FIBROUS MATERIAL. No. 482,155.

Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

IINVENTOR m ATTORNEY] WITNESSESz. I -6.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. BEEKMAN. TRANSMITTER FOR FIBROUS MATERIAL,

No. 482,155. Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

G. BEEKMAN.

TRANSMITTER FOR FIBROUS MATERIAL.

No. 482,155. I Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

WITNESSES INVENTUR AT URNEYS in: new; versus cu, vucromma vusumurou. n.c.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

GERARD BEEKMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TRANSMITTER FOR FIBROUS MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,155, datedSeptember 6, 1892.

Application filed April 22, 1891- Serial No. 389,933. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GERARD BEEKMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of New York, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Transmitters for FibrousMaterial, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to machines in which it is necessary to conveyfibrous materialsuch as cotton, wool, and other light substancesfrom oneplace to another, and it is especially applicable to cotton-harvesters,in which the cotton is picked near the ground .and must be continuouslydelivered to a basket or similar receptacle; and the objects of myinvention are, first, to provide a transmitter by means of which thefibrous material may be readily conveyed in an inclosed space, so thatno fine particles can escape to clog adjoining machinery; second, totransmit the cotton without injury to its fiber and Without thepossibility of contact with oily machinery, and, third, to provide aform of transmitter which shall require a small amount of power to driveit. I attain these objects by the machinery illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which similar figures refer to similar partsthroughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a general side elevation of one suitable form of machinewith which the improved transmitter is incorporated. Fig. 2 is a planview of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the linea: m, Fig. 4, showing in detail the construction of the transmitter fortransmitting the cotton from the cleaning-brushes to thereceiving-baskets of the machine; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section onthe line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of Figs. 3 and 4,taken on the line 2 2', also showing diagrammatically the relation ofthe pickers to the cleaning-brushes; and Fig. 6 is asimilar horizontalsection showing a modification.

Other features than those claimed herein in the cotton-harvester hereinillustrated are more fully described and claimed in my separate patentapplications, Serial Nos. 389,931 and 389,932, filed simultaneouslyherewith.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, which illustrate a hand-machine, 1 isthe main supporting frame; 2, the traction wheel; 3, thesprocket-driving wheel, attach ed to the wheel 2; 4, the sprocket-drivenwheel, the shaft 5 of which is journaled in bearings 6 6 upon the rearpart of the frame 1, and to which wheel 4 motion is imparted from theWheel 3 by means of a band '7, having perforations into which the pins 8of the respective wheels enter.

9 9 are the transmitting-shafts for driving the two groups of 'pickingmechanism 10 10, one upon each side of the machine. These shafts 9 aredriven from the shaft 5 by means of bevel-gearing consisting in adouble-faced gear 11 and the gears 12 12 upon the respective shafts. Theshafts 9 have bearings 13 14 in the lower and upper portions,respectively, of the frame 1, and the upper extremity of said shaftsbear bevel-gears 15, engaging with the bevel-gears 16 of the circularracks 17, that propel the two groups of picking mechanism.

Referring to all of the figures, 18 18 represent the rotarycleaning-brushes, which remove the cotton from the pickers, and 19 19the spirally-reciprocating actuators of the transmitter.

20 is the case or channel through which the cotton is transmitted by theactuators 19 into the basket 21, placed over the wheel and resting uponthe upper rods 22 of the frame 1. The brushes 18 are driven incontinuous rotation in the direction indicated by arrows by means offlexible shafts 23, guided by bearings 24 25 and connected with therotary shafts 9 9. The actuators. 19, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5,consist of rollers having barbs projecting in the direction oftransmission, (in this case upward) and these barbs have'contact with orare very near the brushes 18 to catch the cotton.

A spiral reciprocating motion (indicated by arrows) is imparted by meansof twisted flexible bands 26 27, of metal or other suitable ma terial,connected at either end to the extremities of the actuators and extendedtaut over the driving-sheave 28 beneath and the idle sheave 29 above.Theinterior of the caseinclosing the actuators is provided with barbs110, projecting in the same direct-ion as those on the actuators, whichhold the portions of cotton that are moved or lifted by the actuators19. efiected by successive steps of ascending motion corresponding witheach upward stroke of the the respective actuators 19. Thedriving-sheave 28 bears sprocket-teeth, which enter perforations in thelowerbands 26, insur ing positive motion. The driving-sheave common toboth actuators 19 bears a spur-gear 30, driven by a spur-gear 3l,whichhas an oscillatory motion, rotatin gin one direction and then the other,so as to impart the necessary reciprocating movement to the. actuators.The oscillatory motion of the spur-gear 31 is imparted by a crank 32upon a shaft at the rear end of the machine through the means of a block33 upon the crank-pin,

said block being spirally threaded to the shaft 34 of said oscillatinggear. The bearing 35 of the shaft 34 is swiveled to permit verticalvibratory motion of said shaft due to the motion of the crank, and whilethe shaft 34 does not have endwise motion its alternate rotary motion isnecessarily imparted by the reciprocation of the crank-block 33 upon thespiral groove or thread thereon.

The described motions of the transmitting mechanism m ay beimparted byan yother suitable construction of devices than those herein described,the same merely illustrating one feasible form.

I have found that two actuators, in combination with the barbs upon theinterior of the case of the transmitters, produce the best results, asthey clean each other; but one or more would answer. I have found, too,that the spiral reciprocating motion imparted to the actuators producesthe best results; but a simple reciprocating motion would answer totransmit the cotton.

In orderto prevent the barbs on the actuators and the interior of thecase from injuring the cotton fiber or seed, I make either those on theactuators or those on the interior of the case elastic, or they both maybe made elastic.

The machine thus generally organized is propelled by the handle-bar 40and balanced by the operator upon the main'traction-wheel 2 between therows of cotton-plants, while the groups of picking mechanism 10 operateupon the adjacent sideof each row of plants between which the machinepasses. The pickers 76 consist of flexible stems having suitablemechanisms within the cases for spinning them upon their own axes, andsaid stems are partly exposed and partly shielded in flexible supportsof coiled wire or other suitable material projecting from thepicker-cases 70, as shown in Fig. 5. The pickers operated pass thebrushes on the inner sides of their orbits in the direction indicated bythe arrows h h in Fig. 5, and the tufts of cotton on the ends of therotary pickers 76 are caught by the brushes 18 18, which rotate towardthe interior of the case 20 and separate the cotton, delivering the sameto the barbed actuators 19 The elevation of the cottonis thus.

which deliver the cotton, as hereinbefo're de scribed. 1 1

In order to prevent the possible exit of the cotton at the points 4; 2',Fig. 5,before it reaches the top of the transmitter, a modification maybe provided, as indicated in Fig. 6. This consists in turning theflanges 111 of the case 20 inward toward the actuators in closeproximity thereto. In this modification the barbs do not cover theentire surface of the actuators, but are limited to that indicated bythe full lines shown in said Fig. 6, so that the barbs do not conflictwith the flanges 111. The dotted lines indicate the spiral oscillationof the actuators. The motion of the actuators in Fig. 6 is otherwise thesame as that hereinbefore described with reference to the other figures.

As indicated by arrows, a retrogressive direction of rotation isimparted to the pickerwheels 17 on the side thereof opposite the rows ofplants, this driven rotation being rapid. Orbital rotation is impartedtothe depending leg 45, bearing the pickers,and rapid rotation to thepickers 76 themselves through mechanism fully described'in a separatepatent applicationfiled simultaneously herewith, Serial No.389,932,hereinbefore referred to, and the particular cotton-harvestingmachine with'which the above-described improved transmitter isillustrated as incorporated forms the subject-matter of another separateapplication filed simultaneously herewith.

What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. In a transmitter for fibrous material, barbs projecting from theinclosingcase inwardly and in the direction'of transmission, incombination with oneor more spirally-reciprocating actuators havingbarbsprojecting outwardly and in the direction of transmission and meansfor actuating the same, substantially as described.

2. The machine for producing a spiral reciprocating motion, whichconsists of adriv ing sheave or wheel and means for rotating the samefirst in one direction and then in the other, in combination with anidle sheave or wheel and a twisted band passing around said wheels,substantially as described.

3. In a transmitter for fibrous material, the combination of atransmitting-channel and a spirally reciprocating actuator provided withbarbs projecting in the direction of transmission, partly exposed to theexterior of the channel, adapted to feed the material both laterallyinto and longitudinally through the said channel, with means foroperating the same, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for harvesting cotton, the combination of a rotary brushor adjacent pair thereof for removing the cotton from the pickers, atransmitting-channel, and a spirallyreciprocating actuator provided withbarbs projecting in the direction of transmission and adapted to catchthe cotton from said brushes and carry the same through said catch thecotton from the brushes and feed it channel with means for operating thesame, both laterally into and longitudinally through substantially asdescribed.

5. In a machine for harvesting cotton, the

the said channel and mutually to clean each other, with means foroperating the same, subcombination of rotary pickers, atransmittingstantially as described.

channel, two spirally-reciprocating actuators In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature,

having barbs projecting on their adjacent in presence of two Witnesses,this 20th day of sides in the direction of transmission, and twocylindrical brushes rotating toward the channel on their adjacent sidesin contact with the actuatol s, adapted to strip the cotton from thepickers, said actuators adapted to April, 1891.

GERARD BEEKMAN. 'Witn esses:

H. V. N. PHILIP, WM. B. WHITNEY.

